First Aid for Birds
There are some basic things that you may want to know and use some to help your bird in case something happens. Some of these things may help save your birds life until you can get to the vet. I know that many will push to always go to the vet, but really it is up to you and your judgement. Some things may not need a vet and others seriously do. First let's go over some things you need at home.
There are some things you also need to remember when treating your injured bird.
- Towel: When an animal is hurt sometimes will lash out when normally wouldn't, this is for if the bird starts to bite or if you need to do one of the more painful things.
- Flour: Whenever your bird is bleeding you can put flour all over it, the flour will help to stop it from bleeding. Sometimes it may be hard to see if the spot is still bleeding, you may want to put flour on it see if any blood seeped through.
- Kwik-Stop: This is very similar to the flour and its uses but it has ingredients that help relieve pain. You may want to use this when the wound is still open. It may also help with shock and trauma.
- Tweezers: Depending on what kind on wound your birds gets, you may need to pull small objects out or away, like rocks, glass, hairs or loose feathers.
- Pliers: When a bird breaks a feather, it has a potential to be deadly. If the feather bleeds and doesn't stop (these feathers are usually the larger ones like wing and tail feathers, although all feathers still need to be watched), it will act as a leaky faucet, until it's completely shut off it will continue to leak.
- Vetricyn: This is a spray that I have found helps on just about any injury and animal, although don't be fooled by the picture of the rabbit, the company really is meaning exotic pets(they explain online but not on the bottle). This spray is a type of low dose antibiotic with a healing agent. It helps to get the blood circulating around the injury.
- Hydrogen Peroxide: This can help you clean the injury and can help keep bacteria and infections away.
There are some things you also need to remember when treating your injured bird.
- Stay Calm: Your bird has just been injured, it is already freaking out (whether or not you can tell), the major thing your bird needs is for you to stay calm. If it sees you being calm then it may calm down some too. This could be very important because the faster that little heart is going, the fast it will lose blood.
- Keep Clean: Try to keep everything as clean as possible. You and your bird are already dealing with enough as is, the last thing you need is an infection to top it off.
- Watch the Blood: As weird as it sounds, you need to watch how much blood your bird is losing. If a small bird the size of a Cockatiel loses 10 drops of blood, that equals 10% of the birds blood. Once it get to 20%, it has is very that the bird will not survive. If your bird starts losing too much blood get it to the vet ASAP.
Common Injuries
Broken or Bleeding Feather
If your bird has a broken feather, first find out if it is bleeding or not. If its not bleeding keep an eye on it for maybe a half hour. If it still has started then try cutting off the broken piece, if your bird will allow you to. This is so that when it flaps its wings or bumps into anything, the feather won't suffer anymore injury.
If the feather has blood but has fallen out, you may be in the clear. Check out your bird, find out if it has anymore injuries and note where there are traces of blood. Check to see if the entire feather has come out or if the tip is still in. If your bird is not heavily bleeding then put flour on it and take it to its favorite spot where it will be the most comfortable; we want the bird to calm down and move as little as possible. If it stays about the same then just continue to keep checking it throughout the next couple days and be extra careful with your bird.
If your bird has a broken feather that is bleeding, look for other feathers that may be injured too and put flour on it. Note all areas that have traces of blood. Again, take it to its favorite spot where it will be the most comfortable; we want the bird to calm down and move as little as possible. Check how much blood it is losing more frequently at first. If its bleeding too much then you will have to put the feather. If its a wing feather, pull the wing out taunt and grab the feather with pliers and pull the feather out. This needs to be a quick, strait, fluid motion. This will require two people to effectively do this. It will also be very painful for the bird, so whichever person has a hold of the bird should use a towel to wrap around the bird. After this, continue to keep track of the area but remember that it will be tender so try to be gentle. You may be thinking that this has to be painful, why would i want to do this to my bird? Well, a feather is like a open faucet, it will continue to bleed until it is shut off. Of course this means that the bird will die. So pulling a broken feather could mean life or death to your bird. A bit of pain out weighs the loss of life.
If you don't feel comfortable doing these things or still very worried about whether or not your bird is okay then see a vet as soon as possible Some places have 24 hour emergency clinics that you may be able to go to. If you have to wait overnight or over the weekend, then try your best to stop the bleeding by applying flour or kwik-stop and bandaging the feather the best you can.
Scratches, Bites, Abrasions
Remember, if your bird gets scratches or bitten by a cat or dog, you should take them to the vet. Cats and dogs carry germs that birds sometimes can't handle. The safest thing for your bird, even if the bleeding has stopped, is to go to the vet and get an antibiotic that can fight of infections.
If your bird has a very deep cut or puncture, apply flour and kwik-stop but get to the vet ASAP. If it is too deep, there is not much you can do, just try to stop the bleeding until you can see a vet. Try to keep the bird calm and as still as possible to reduce blood loss.
If the injury is not very deep and small, put hydrogen peroxide and/or vetricyn. Then apply flour or kwik-stop to the injury. Take note of any traces of blood and check on the bird about every half hour once you have slowed or stopped the bleeding. Let the bird be in the spot it is most comfortable. many times the bird can take care of itself.Even if the bird has stopped bleeding, still consider going to the vet due to infections.
If your bird has a broken feather, first find out if it is bleeding or not. If its not bleeding keep an eye on it for maybe a half hour. If it still has started then try cutting off the broken piece, if your bird will allow you to. This is so that when it flaps its wings or bumps into anything, the feather won't suffer anymore injury.
If the feather has blood but has fallen out, you may be in the clear. Check out your bird, find out if it has anymore injuries and note where there are traces of blood. Check to see if the entire feather has come out or if the tip is still in. If your bird is not heavily bleeding then put flour on it and take it to its favorite spot where it will be the most comfortable; we want the bird to calm down and move as little as possible. If it stays about the same then just continue to keep checking it throughout the next couple days and be extra careful with your bird.
If your bird has a broken feather that is bleeding, look for other feathers that may be injured too and put flour on it. Note all areas that have traces of blood. Again, take it to its favorite spot where it will be the most comfortable; we want the bird to calm down and move as little as possible. Check how much blood it is losing more frequently at first. If its bleeding too much then you will have to put the feather. If its a wing feather, pull the wing out taunt and grab the feather with pliers and pull the feather out. This needs to be a quick, strait, fluid motion. This will require two people to effectively do this. It will also be very painful for the bird, so whichever person has a hold of the bird should use a towel to wrap around the bird. After this, continue to keep track of the area but remember that it will be tender so try to be gentle. You may be thinking that this has to be painful, why would i want to do this to my bird? Well, a feather is like a open faucet, it will continue to bleed until it is shut off. Of course this means that the bird will die. So pulling a broken feather could mean life or death to your bird. A bit of pain out weighs the loss of life.
If you don't feel comfortable doing these things or still very worried about whether or not your bird is okay then see a vet as soon as possible Some places have 24 hour emergency clinics that you may be able to go to. If you have to wait overnight or over the weekend, then try your best to stop the bleeding by applying flour or kwik-stop and bandaging the feather the best you can.
Scratches, Bites, Abrasions
Remember, if your bird gets scratches or bitten by a cat or dog, you should take them to the vet. Cats and dogs carry germs that birds sometimes can't handle. The safest thing for your bird, even if the bleeding has stopped, is to go to the vet and get an antibiotic that can fight of infections.
If your bird has a very deep cut or puncture, apply flour and kwik-stop but get to the vet ASAP. If it is too deep, there is not much you can do, just try to stop the bleeding until you can see a vet. Try to keep the bird calm and as still as possible to reduce blood loss.
If the injury is not very deep and small, put hydrogen peroxide and/or vetricyn. Then apply flour or kwik-stop to the injury. Take note of any traces of blood and check on the bird about every half hour once you have slowed or stopped the bleeding. Let the bird be in the spot it is most comfortable. many times the bird can take care of itself.Even if the bird has stopped bleeding, still consider going to the vet due to infections.